This list grew from the realization that a good bibliography on books about Western Buddhism that are written for the general public is not currently available. Western readers and librarians at small to mid-sized public libraries must rely on recommendations by friends, suggested readings listed in individual books, advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and browsing of bookstores (online and off). Libraries which subscribe to periodicals such as Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist have some additional resources, but many good books on Buddhism are not widely reviewed because the subject is not considered mainstream.

A list of approximately sixty titles in length was chosen. A list of this size gives the reader a lot of variety to choose from and is a good size for a moderate-sized library collection on Buddhism. It provides room for classic and new works, for various levels of content (i.e. beginner, intermediate, and advanced), and for various approaches to the material (more than one author can speak about a specific topic). It also allows a balance that would be hard to achieve with a smaller listing.

The scope is broad, covering the major forms of Buddhism that have taken root in the United States during the past century. Four categories were chosen: General, Theravadan, Tibetan, and Zen. Each was to contain twelve to fifteen titles. The General category covers material common to all forms, works that present a survey of the various forms, and general reference material. Dictionaries, directories, general histories, general surveys, and basic teachings fall under this heading. Just as Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant religions present very different approaches to Christianity, while sharing common elements, Theravadan, Tibetan, and Zen Buddhism present different approaches and are best evaluated as different categories.

A sixty title list suggested an initial pool of 120-150 items. No comprehensive bibliography of books on Western Buddhism for general readers was found from which to draw the pool. The pool was gathered from recommendations by a variety of subject experts and other resources. Subject experts included Dr. Levering, of the Religious Studies department at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, eleven Buddhist meditation teachers, an American Tibetan Buddhist lama, staff members from four small to medium-sized publishers of books on Buddhism, and the list author. Additional recommendations came from reading lists in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (a popular Buddhist periodical), The Buddhist Handbook and The Buddhist Directory (two current reference books), a list of holdings on Buddhism from the Knox County Public Library System (a large library system with an excellent collection on Buddhism), and holdings of the library of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The final pool contained 171 titles.

Recommendations from the meditation teachers were available from reading lists previously acquired. Lama Surya Das, author and an American Tibetan Buddhist Lama, included a list of recommended readings in his introductory book Awakening the Buddha Within. This was used to compensate for the small number of meditation teachers in the Tibetan tradition who contributed suggestions.

Specific information was collected for each title. It included:

1. A record from an online book publisher (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Borders).
2. A list of book reviews from Book Review Index.
3. A printout of records from the WorldCat database showing all English language editions and some information about U.S. library holders.
4. Up to 4 reviews from reliable sources.

The purpose of the online bookseller data was to check availability of title, check format availability (paperback, cloth, audiocassette), and confirm spelling of author name and title before searching for reviews. Book Review Index was used to locate reviews. Titles with no reviews listed in Book Review Index were checked against Book Review Digest. No reviews resulted from this step. WorldCat records supplied information about the number of English language printings, various editions, formats, author and title spelling, publisher, publication dates, and other bibliographic information. The list of library holders was useful in determining which books were purely of academic interest and which might appeal to general readers.

When available, reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Choice, Kirkus, and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review were selected because of their reputation for high quality evaluative reviews in all subjects, or because of their reputation for quality reviews specifically related to the subject matter (Tricycle). If three or four reviews were not available from among these periodicals, a second tier of review sources was consulted. These included New York Times Book Reviews, Los Angeles Times Book Reviews, Religious Reviews, Journal of Religion, and other related periodicals. Some books had no reviews and some had only one or two.

Books were selected for inclusion based upon subject treatment targets; content level targets; distribution of new and classic works; reviewer's comments; distribution of library holdings between public and academic libraries; examination of the book for content and readability; and the project author's knowledge of the book or book author's reputation.

A second tier of selections was established. These included books of historical value that have been replaced by newer works, slightly more advanced material, important books that did not fall purely within the subject matter as defined, or good books that would have exceeded the target for subject treatment if included (e.g. biographies). A decision was made to include these titles as additional titles of interest without providing annotations.

The resulting collection is well balanced in subject treatment, content level, the mix of classic and new works, and it contains consistently well-written, readable books. Because "the best of the best" were chosen, annotations are generally favorable, although important flaws are noted.